Mom Jailed For Treating Child With Dagga

Johannesburg – An Mpumalanga mother who fed her 8-year-old son dagga was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment by the Tonga Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.Sophie Fikile Nkomo, 31, of Mangweni village near the Swaziland and Mozambican border, pleaded guilty to possession of dagga, a Sapa correspondent said.Asked why she was contradicting her plea statement, she told the court she was illiterate.”Your Worship, I didn’t go to school but I know how old my kids are and which grades they are attending at school,” Nkomo told Magistrate Hazel Khoza.

She told the court she had used dagga to heal her son from a chest ailment.

“My inyanga told me to get dagga and cook for my son to drink because he was concerned that my son was not getting better,” she said.

She also apologised for getting into trouble with the law.

Khoza said Nkomo was only sorry because she was caught.

She said the mother of three had exposed her children to drugs.

“You put your son’s life at risk by giving him dagga liquid to drink and you exposed the rest of your kids to drugs at the early age.

“We are on 16 Days of Activism Against the Abuse of Children and Women and you play a part of it,” she said.

Khoza said Nkomo’s sentence would serve as a deterrent to the mother of three.

“I will give you a sentence that will make you run away when you come across people holding dagga in their hands or when you see a dagga plant growing in your yard,” said Khoza, smiling.

Nkomo was arrested on 3 December when police found her in possession of dagga weighing less than a kilogram.

The magistrate sentenced Nkomo to two months imprisonment with an option to pay a R2 000 fine.

The sentence was suspended for five years.

“Lady, you are a single mother. I will give you a suspended sentence to go back home and take care of your kids,” Khoza said.